1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to computers, and more particularly to a method, system, and computer program product for tagging file level information to block level data.
2. Description of the Related Art
In computing, a file system is a mechanism for storing and organizing computer files and the data they contain to simplify the process of data location and access. File systems may use one or more data storage devices, such as several devices organized into a data storage system. More formally, a file system is a special-purpose database for the storage, organization, manipulation, and retrieval of data.
One of the challenges in modern storage and data systems is a divergence between how data is represented to users and applications, such as by files and database records, and how data is actually stored on physical storage media, such as blocks or chunks of data. Many efficiencies that are possible when managing blocks of data (e.g., bulk transfers, de-duplication processing, image replication, etc.) are limited when managing data in their representative form as files, database records and the like. There is a need to improve the means by which data can be managed as blocks and yet maintain efficient reference information to the representative forms of that data.
One prior art mechanism that attempts to address some of the aspects of this challenge is the development of indexes that represent blocks of data. These indexes can be used in block level management as well as for higher level activities such as the compare and match processes of data de-duplication, block level searches, encryption, and others. However, the current state of the art, in view of today's large storage capacities and file sizes, result in the creation of very large indexes referencing to a large number of very small blocks of storage data. Management of such a large index may introduce unwanted inefficiencies and complexities.